Passenger Trains > Free Train Rides on UTA Today

To kick off the opening of Utah Transit Authority's new Salt Lake City to Provo extension of commuter rail, the agency offered free rides to the public on Saturday, December 8th between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The trains ran approximately 30 minutes apart between Salt Lake Central and Provo Station. To help the hungry, UTA requested donations of canned 'food for fare' to ride.

While I'm not a big fan of crowds, I wanted to document the occasion. The weather was dark, overcast, and bitter cold so I bundled up and captured the following six images:

1-2. UTA 1 leads a Northbound train over the fabulous South Jordan Flyover. The fill and bridge move the UTA route from the east to the west side of the UP Provo Subdivision.

3. UTA 19 emerges from the Jordan Narrows at 13th West crossing in Bluffdale.

(continued)

James Belmont
Salt Lake City, UT

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For me the 'money shot' would have to be somewhere in the Jordan Narrows, a three mile river canyon between the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys.

4. UTA 1 glides Northbound across the Jordan River along UP's parallel Provo Subdivision mainline. The UTA track sits right on top of the old Rio Grande right of way, while the UP track is on a newly constructed parallel route to the east.

5. Another major section of railroading along the Wasatch Front is now a quiet zone. The 45 miles of both the UP Provo Sub and UTA FrontRunner are now 'train horn free' for the first time.

6. My last shot of the day, UTA 2 on train #3 blasts out of the Jordan Narrows at 13th West. The train sounded fantastic as the MP36 roared back up to its 79 mph track speed toward the next station stop at Draper.

Thanks for taking a ride,

James Belmont
Salt Lake City, UT

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Any idea what the grade is on that flyover?

In #5, I initially read the sign as one sentence, which totally changes the meaning:
"High speed trains do not stop on tracks or go around crossing gates"

Ryan Wilkerson
Fair Oaks, CA

ble692 Wrote:
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> Any idea what the grade is on that flyover?

I have a contact who was involved in the construction. I have emailed and hope to have an answer from him soon.

Here's a shot of a southbound train grinding its way up the flyover...

James Belmont
Salt Lake City, UT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/12 18:31 by GrandeGold.

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Nice images, James! Thanks for braving the weather! I was running loco #16 on train 2 from SLC to Ogden today...

Paul Liddiard
Spanish Fork, UT

lizzard_45 Wrote:
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> Nice images, James! Thanks for braving the
> weather! I was running loco #16 on train 2 from
> SLC to Ogden today...

The real fun begins on Monday morning. Are you excited?

James Belmont
Salt Lake City, UT

Hey James, thanks for posting the images, some nice shots you got.

I'm surprised though that the Department of Hopeless Insecurity wasn't on you like a fat kid on a smarty =;0)

Cheers,
Karl

Had thought about taking the kids to go ride today but we had too many other things to catch up on. But we have Christmas break coming up in a few weeks so I'll probably take them them. The "quiet zone" is my wife''s favorite thing about the new line - even though we live a ways from the tracks. I hope the ridership is good when the line opens up Monday, if I worked in downtown Salt Lake I would be more than happy to take it versus make the drive.

Nice pictures James, the flyover almost looks like a roller coaster hill when you get up close!

Nathan

like the bottom of the pilots colors

Great shots James. Thanks for sharing them, I missed all the fun today I was working on the TRAX lines all day today.

Kerry Klarr

Posted from Android

Note to NJ Gov Chris Christie.....

Those Ex-NJDOT/NJT Comet 1's built in 1972 see to be running just fine. NJT has been busy unloading "old" cars cheap
and then buying new stuff at 20 times the price. Pretty smart. And we won't even mention the Sandy mess......

Great shots James. I rode the train to Provo Saturday morning, the first one I think, left Salt Lake Central about 9:40 AM and back about Noon. Really enjoyed seeing what we discussed so long ago. Rode to Ogden on the 355pm from SLC back at 615 or so. Great ride also. I am continually amazed at how well UTA has done in developing rail in the greater SLC area. Your chronicles are marvelous. Have you considered putting together a chronological photo study of the evolution from the beginning, the purchase of the UP line that is now TRAX to Sandy?

I presume the first photo was taken with a telephoto lens or a zoom lens at maximum. That may account for the "roller coaster" look of the bridge approach.

pdt Wrote:
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> Note to NJ Gov Chris Christie.....
>
> Those Ex-NJDOT/NJT Comet 1's built in 1972 see to
> be running just fine. NJT has been busy unloading
> "old" cars cheap
> and then buying new stuff at 20 times the price.
> Pretty smart. And we won't even mention the Sandy
> mess......

It's my understanding that the Comet 1s had ADA issues.

rfprr

DNRY122 Wrote:
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> I presume the first photo was taken with a
> telephoto lens or a zoom lens at maximum. That
> may account for the "roller coaster" look of the
> bridge approach.


That is a "roller coaster" effect regardless of what lens he used. The fly over starts are 9400 South, and is back down at 1000 South. It's steeper on the north side than the south side. We're limited to 45 mph over it. The purpose is to switch sides with UP. South of the flyover they are on the East side, and we are on the West...

Paul Liddiard
Spanish Fork, UT